Two Towers (TWD)
by TennisCat
Summary: Clementine and Aj have just escaped wellington after their oldest friend was shot and killed, and then overthrown by a tyrant. Clem and Aj are now on the road again, and have run into some survivors. Read, as Clem finds herself with feelings for someone in her gut, but soon finds out that she is a main cause of his pain. Comments are appreciated. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

I slowly trudged through the pearly snow, not having gotten any rest in days. Aj, who I now considered a little brother, grasped my hand tightly and asked,

"Clemmy, where are we going?" I smiled sweetly at him and racked my brain, trying figure out what to tell him. I stopped, and placed my hand on Kenny's, (now Aj's) ragged old trucker cap, and said,

"For now, all we're trying to find is a place we'll be safe in for a couple of days, maybe find some food there. Okay, Aj?"

Aj nodded, and I slowly stood up to start walking. After we had gotten into wellington, Kenny would go on little expeditions outside the wall. He would go all the time, even if he didn't like who he was paired up with. Then, two years after we arrived I would go with him and his group to look for supplies. We came across a few survivors one day, and invited them back to wellington. They turned on us about halfway back, and … Kenny got shot. But he did not die in vain. We killed one of theirs in return. I couldn't...stop shooting him. After that, I took it upon myself to protect Aj the way I was protected. Wellington fell apart a year ago,and Aj and I ended up right where we are now. Searching.

When I came out of my thoughts, I started to notice what looked like a watch tower in the distance.

"Do you see that Aj?" I asked the five year old. He stood on his tip-toes and exclaimed, "Yeah! I see it Clemmy, I see it!" the small boy jumped around in joy, his gray hoodie bouncing along with him. We quickly made our way to the tower, stopping only to make sure we weren't attracting any walkers.

When we finally made it to the tower, we were stopped in our tracks. At the base, there were dozens of walkers. All of them mindlessly pacing around, but never straying too far. Then, something occurred to me. Why, would dozens of walkers be surrounding a tower, but not leaving it ?  
"Someone is up there!" I whispered to Aj.

"So?"  
"So we don't know if they are a threat to us. We might need to just forget this place Aj." Aj hung his head and then looked at me again. This time, there was a determination in his eyes I had never seen before.  
"We can't just leave it, Clemmy! It's almost night time and It's right there!The place you were talking about earlier is There!" Aj pleaded, pointing at the tower. I looked away from him and at the tower. I thought of what might happen if the people there were bad. If the walkers were to get Aj or I. Then, I looked back to Aj and the fire roaring in his little brown eyes.

"Alright," I whispered, " If we're gonna do this, you better be on my tail the entire way through, got it?" Aj nodded, and I gave him a pistol in case things went wrong.

"You know how to use it?" He nodded.

I crouched down among the brush and when I saw an opening in the walkers, we ran. All of a sudden, A shot rang out from the tower. Aj and i stopped in our tracks, taking cover from any hungry walkers. We waited a few seconds and heard another shot, two, three,four.

"What the HELL are you two doing?," a voice shouted from inside the tower, " Can't you see i'm covering you two? RUN!" Aj and I ran as fast as we could, but the shots didn't distract ALL of the walkers. A slobbering, old walker with yellow eyes, and slavering jaws came down on top of me.

"CLEMMY!" Aj screeched. He stopped dead in his tracks, and started to run back over to me, his gun drawn.

"AJ, NO, GET INSIDE, NOW! RUN!" I screamed. As the walker continued to attempt to rip out my throat, I tried to reach the knife I had strapped to my belt. Only one hand was keeping the walker from having dinner, and each time I tried to reach my knife, it seemed like the walker weighed another few pounds than it actually did. Just as I was about to grab my knife , I heard another gun shot. Only seconds later the walker's head exploded into a million peices. Blood, Brains,And flesh flew everywhere, including my face, and clothes. I got up as quick as I could, my body aching and my consciousness fading with every forced step. _Come on, you can do it just a few more steps, _I thought.

Before I knew it, I was at the base of the tower, and my hand was on the door knob. I pulled the door and… Nothing. I pulled again, and again, and still the door wouldn't budge!

_What!, _I thought, _How the hell did Aj get in there! Did he even make it in?_

I was in full panic mode now. _What if he's dead, what if he got shot, what if a walker got him! _ Aj was now the only thing I had left to live for! If he was gone what was I supposed to do! I started Banging on the door as hard as I could, screaming,

" AJ! AJ ARE YOU IN THERE? ARE YOU OKAY?" Sure, it was probably one of the dumbest things I could do while surrounded by walkers, but what would you do if someone you've managed to keep alive since birth was potentially in danger?

"OPEN THE DOOR! PLEASE!" I yelled. I tried to open it three more times but to no avail. I leaned against the door, and sunk down to the ground. If this is how I'm gonna die, i'm gonna do it for Alvin. I swiftly pulled out my gun and shot the walkers closest to me. BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Blood flew everywhere,as I stood up and continued to shoot.

Rage took me over as I thought of everybody I had lost because of these, these eradicators! everybody I cared about was DEAD and it was because of THEM!

_Lee,_BLAM,_Mom,_BLAM,_Dad,BLAM,KennyBLAM,Jane,BLAM,Duck,BLAM,Luke, BLAM, and even more that THAT! _

"_HOW MANY MORE PEOPLE HAVE TO DIE!" _I screamed, not realizing i had said it out loud. I wasn't protecting anyone anymore. I was on a spree. SO angry, and so grief stricken, that I didn't realize what I was doing. By now, I had run out of bullets and pulled out my hunting knife slashing through the skulls of the walkers, and even smashing them, dead or not. I continued to plow down walkers, when I heard a door open.

"HEY! COME ON, GET IN HERE!" an unfamiliar voice called me to the door of the tower. I turned and bolted for the door; the adrenaline still pulsing through my veins.

As soon as I got inside I turned around and slammed the door shut, then turned and pinned the boy who opened the door to the wall. I glared deep into his eyes and growled, "Where is Alvin?" The boy shifted and muttered, "Alvin?" I Put my Blood spattered knife to the boy's throat, and fear lit his eyes like fireworks used to light the sky.  
" I-I Don't know Alvin," The boy said as I pushed my knife harder to his throat," B- BUT, if Alvin is the little boy that came in here, then he's safe!" I looked at the boy more intensely, debating on whether or not I should trust him.

"Clemmy," a small voice asked, " are you okay?" I immediately dropped my knife, rushed over to the small boy, and bearhugged him, falling to my knees in the process.  
"O-Oh my god," I whispered as my tears fell onto the boy's jacket , " I-I thought you didn't make it through. Oh thank god!" Aj hugged me back and didn't say anything. He didn't have to. I wondered if he had seen the horror I created outside, and asked

" You... didn't see what I did out there, did you?"  
"no…" He slowly replied. I just looked at him and smiled a small, sad, smile and said, "Good… good."

"He might not have seen what you did, but I saw." The boy who I had pinned to the wall was now rubbing his neck where I had held my knife. I slowly stood up, with Aj grasping my side.

"I-i'm really sorry about pulling my knife on you like that." I apologized, suddenly lightheaded. The boy just shrugged and said , " It's better that you actually killing me. What i'm concerned about is what the hell happened out there." He gestured towards the door. I hung my head and shakily replied, " I-I'll explain it all later, I just… I wanted… h-him to be…" Suddenly my knees buckled and I fell to the cement floor.

" WOAH, are you okay?" The boy asked, concern clouding his eyes.

" Clemmy? What's wrong, are you hurt?" Aj panicked, as he knelt down next to me.

I looked at their blurry silhouettes and replied,

"I-i'm not bitten, I-i just haven't slept in a while." It was true. Every night Aj and I had to sleep outside, I stayed up. I felt like I had to. I'm too afraid of what could happen if I let my guard down. I looked at Aj and the boy, and slowly tried to pull myself up. Aj saw what I was trying to do, and started to push me up.

" No, Aj, you don't have to do that. Its okay." I wheezed.

" No! I'm going to help you!" He retorted. I slowly got up enough to lean against the wall, disgusted at how weak I had just gotten.

The boy curiously looked on at me, eyeing my condition.  
"Do you think you can make it up the stairs?" He asked. I glared at him and dragged my feet over to the stairs. When I looked up to see how high it was, I mentally banged my head on the wall.

" God…" I sighed. I knew I would have a hard time getting up the stairs but, I'm not gonna turn into a vulnerable little baby. Not in front of a stranger. I suppose if he wanted to kill me and Aj he would have, but i'm not going to trust anybody I just met. Not after Kenny.

We had gotten about halfway up the stairs, and so far I was able to walk okay on my own. Only problem was the amount of breathing I had to do. Every time I took a big breath, my head felt lighter. This meant I had to take shorter, shallower breaths, so I didn't pass out. Talking wasn't a smart move either, but I had to say something. Silence means people are thinking, and sometimes, that's a bad thing.

"So," I panted, " What's your name?"

" You shouldn't be wasting your breath." The boy calmly stated.

I narrowed my eyes, " Then you won't be getting our names."

" I already know your name, Clementine."

I stopping walking, and eyed Aj, who gave a nervous glance and smile in my direction. I rolled my eyes and continued to haul myself up the stairs. Aj slowly shifted his steps and walked next to me.

"His name is Blake. At least that's what he told me when I got in here." He whispered, low enough for Blake to not hear. I nodded my appreciation. Then, out of nowhere, my body convulsed with terrible coughs. I couldn't catch my breath and the gasps for air only made it worse! I immediately collapsed onto the stairs, as my body continued to convulse.

"Holy c-cra…" was all I could manage to spit out. I saw Blake quickly turn around, and Aj yelp. The shaking stopped and I kept trying to catch my breath but I couldn't! I remained kneeled on the stairs, with Aj's small hand on my back, and him repeating,

"Clem, are you okay, are you okay,?"

The next thing I knew, I was being picked up by Blake and rushed up the stairs. After that, I kept fading in and out of consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

When I woke up, I saw a completely new room. We seemed to be in the top of the watch tower, which on the inside, was actually… nice. It was dark, so I assumed that it was night time. I was lying on… a mattress, and AJ, who was sleeping next to me, was on one too. I slowly sat up, silently taking in my surroundings. There was a table and a few mismatched chairs towards the far left side. In the middle were the mattresses Aj and I were on. Then on the far right side, was a refrigerator that had probably not worked for years, and next to that, there were a couple of counters with plates and a can opener. I looked behind me and saw the "watch" part of the tower. It was really only a big window without glass in it.

In front of the window, was Blake. He was sitting in a lawn chair with his elbows propped on the window ledge, with a rifle. He was talking to himself, and looking up at the sky. I slowly stood up to see what he was talking to himself about, and walked towards him. I was a little wobbly but, I mean I had had worse. As I got closer, I could hear a little bit of what he was saying.

" ... Sorry. I still really am. You gave me no choice, I wanted to help you, but you tried to... Kill me... Your own brother. But I'm still here. You were just angry, and scared. I was too Caleb. I still love you and dad. I won't forget you. Ever." As I stepped closer to him the floorboard creaked. Blake quickly whipped around to face me, grabbing the rifle as he did. I rapidly put my hands up, and took a step back.

" It's okay, It's just me!" I calmly stated. He lowered the gun.

"I still don't know if I can trust you," He glared at me,

" you seem to like getting into other peoples buisness" I rubbed the back of my neck and looked at the ground.

" Yea, sorry about that. I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I only wanted to thank you. Blake." Blake turned a put the gun back on the window ledge.

"The kid tell you that?" He asked, as he sat back down. I grabbed a chair that was slightly pushed off to the side. Blake kind of looked at me as I set it down next to him.

" That was the chair my brother sat In before he..." He stopped. I glanced over at him as I sat down, and finished,

"... Was killed?" He glared again, this time fiercer than before.

"You shouldn't have heard that,"He growled," It was none of your business what I was doing!" He looked away from me and turned his head to the side. Then back up at the stars.

It was now that I got a look at Blake. He had blue eyes, a kind of silvery blue, and they had watered up at what he had said. He had,(surprisingly) short, cropped dirty blonde hair that had a sandy look to it. His face was longish, and had a solemn look about it. If I had one word to describe him, it would be: fighter. Everything about this boy screamed justice.

"What did you want to be when you grew up?" I asked. He looked at me as if that was the dumbest thing he'd ever heard.

"I guess an Officer. One of the kids in my class was the son of the town's sheriff. I was nine," He paused for a moment, " How old were you when this all started?" He asked. I looked at the window ledge, and started to tear up from the nightmarish memories.

" I was eight. Turned nine a few months after that." I choked out. Blake silently studied me as I tried to push out the memories I had tried so hard to overcome.

" Then six days after I turned nine, I… I had to shoot the greatest man I ever knew. I heard you talking to your Dad and brother, I do that too. I talk to a lot of people." I wiped away my tears and sighed, closing my eyes. I looked upwards and opened my eyes again. In the sky were the same patterns there had always been. The only thing that hasn't changed.

As I stared, I couldn't help but make up my own constellations. I could see Lee's and Kenny's eyes glowing the way they always did when they were happy. Duck and Sarah's smiles, the glint in Alvin's glasses,Rebecca's hair, even Omid's devilish grin. such a long time ago, yet, there is no way in the world any of them will be forgotten.

" Do you ever look up there and see them all? Everyone that… passed?" I asked Blake.

" Of course, who did you think I was talking to?" He looked at the sky, His eyes softening. We continued to pick out our lost, when Blake looked at me and said,

" Caleb was my brother, in case you didn't pick up on that." I nodded.

"well, get on with it." I said waiting for him to start talking.

" Well, when all of this started I was with my Dad and my Brother. My Dad used to be a marine so I would've thought he'd still be alive right now. Two years ago, he died trying to protect my brother and I. It wasn't the geeks that killed him though. It was people. People like you. They tried to take us to a camp, but Dad said they would try to hurt us like last time. My Dad shot one of them, then he got shot by one of the people. Caleb told me to run, so I did. HE told me what happened. There were… so many… holes." He stopped. He looked away from the stars and abruptly stood. I looked at him as he stood, with a questioning look.

" I need to… pee." he said avoiding my eyes. He then walked to the stairwell door and left. Slowly but surely, I realized a terrifying truth.

**Hi! thank you guys who are reading so much! sorry it took a while to upload, i'm prewriting the story, and still trying to figure everything out, so again thank you!**


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, After AJ had woken up and Blake had gone to check the yard, I told AJ what I thought had happened.

"WHAT! WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU THINK YOU..."

" QUIET! Not so loud," I hissed.

" You HAVE to tell him," AJ pleaded." Kenny would want you to!"

"No AJ," I snapped," Kenny would tell you to man up, and do what you have to do, even if it seems wrong!"AJ hung his head in defeat, knowing it was true. I got down on my knees in front of him.

" listen, I am going to tell him, just not now. I want to do it at the right time, when he gets us better okay?" AJ nodded, understanding my intentions. Blake came in a few minutes after that, rifle in hand.

" Alright you two, the field is clear, so... Clem, you up for going out to look for food?" He asked. I looked at Aj, and said

" Yea Okay. But, Is the mess from yesterday still there?" I asked, worried.

Blake slowly nodded his head. Then said,

"Aj can stay here and look out for the tower." Aj hung his head and sorrowfully stated,

" I don't know how to use a rifle." Blake gave me a questioning look, and gestured towards AJ with the rifle. I nodded, and Blake gave Aj the rifle.

" Okay, AJ. Hold it like this," He said, positioning AJ's hands, " And tuck it in the pit of your shoulder." As I watched Blake with Aj, I couldn't help but admire him. After everything he had been through, he still had this… sense about him. He still cares about others, even if he tries to keep to himself. You can see in his eyes, the smallest speck of compassion towards others.

" Alright, Aj, you got it?"Aj nodded.

"Oh, And it's not in safety, so it will kick. But, you can handle it." Blake quickly added, noticing me. He walked over to the door and hastily left Aj and I alone.

" Don't breathe a word of what I told you to him," I ordered. " Also, the second I hear a gunshot, I'll come back, Okay?" Aj nodded, and I left him standing at the window with the gun pointed out of it. It's a good thing the walkers I demolished are hidden by the tower's shadow. I looked at Aj one last time, before I turned and began down the stairs.

When I got to the bottom of the stairs, Blake was waiting with his head stuck out the door. I walked slowly over to him and touched his shoulder. His head snapped back in, and he slammed the door shut, whipping his knife out in the process. When he spun around, his knife was level, and inches, from my left eye.

" Okay, I didn't mean to startle you, it's just me." I said, trying to calm him. But, the knife didn't waver. He seemed frozen as if he was... In a trance. His eyes were wide and glazed, and his mouth was slightly parted.

" Blake?" I asked. When I said his name he immediately snapped out of it.

" you... You look a lot like one of the people that were trying to take me and my brother, and Dad to that... Wellington place," He cautiously said," but you would tell me. I at least think you would." He lowered the knife.

" that's the second time you've pointed a weapon at me. You're gonna end up killing me." I chuckled, hiding the terror I felt. Blake smiled a small smile, then turned towards the door again.

" there's a small town at the edge of the valley, that's where the geeks came from. They chased me, so I didn't get to scout out the whole town. I don't think geeks are gonna be problem any more though." He opened the door and we cautiously sprinted across the bloodstained snow from the day before. The carcasses of the walkers lay scattered, some only partly visible from the snow. While I ran by, I could see skulls that I had crushed, bones I had snapped,hell,there were even limbs I had managed to sever. It almost seemed as if my legs were controlling me, because I picked up speed and passed Blake, who ran after me. By the time I reached the edge, I had almost collapsed from lack of air. I did that. What is wrong with me? Am I finally drifting over the crazy border? What if I hurt someone? Aj, for god's sakes! I could hurt him! By now I had fallen into the grass, and was hugging my knees, begging myself to keep it together.

" Holy… Gahh…," Blake panted, catching up, " You… are fast as…" That's when he saw me. His eyes widened and he kneeled down next to me.

"Clementine," he awkwardly asked "What's wrong?" I sat for a moment more, before quickly standing, and bitterly said, " we came out here for supplies, not a pity party." Blake regretfully stood back up and tried to lighten the mood.

" Fine, don't say anything, but you could have warned me that sitting down was only dream!" He Joked. About twenty minutes later, Blake and I had made it to the city and checked two houses, both without incident, and had managed to collect a surprising amount of beans from the second one. Until, we hit the third house. We just entered and started going through some white kitchen drawers, and from the next room over, a pale pair of hands reached out and grabbed me from behind.

" BLAKE!" I screamed, while frantically unsheathing my knife,and trying to stab the walker. It's gnashing Jaws were only centimeters from my shoulder, when Blake slammed a metal bat into the side of it's head. I backed away, and watched as Blake continuously bashed it's head in, with him muttering to himself,

"Not this time you scum-bag!," He turned to see if I was okay, but was interrupted when I threw myself at him, and wrapped him in a bear-hug. When I realized what I was doing, I quickly backed away from him, my face red, and his wide with surprise.

" Thanks." I murmured, rapidly turning to scout a different part of the house. That was unusual, I thought to myself, both of these past days have been out of the ordinary. If you can call it that. I cleaned out a cabinet with stored guns,and canned food in about twenty minutes,and started to head back out, when I heard exasperated voices. I froze, and slowly approached the door.

" Hey, it's just me here! I was looking for supplies! Please, don't shoot me!" That was Blake! I drew my gun and slowly walked out the door. I heard Blake plead once more for them to just leave, when I stepped out in the open. There were three people. Two male, one female. She was African American, and her eyes darted to me with a cold glare. There was the adult male, he had longish, brown hair, and was aiming a crossbow at Blake, who had his head cocked back in defiance. The youngest, and the second boy, looked about my age, and also had longish brown hair. He had a brown sheriffs hat pulled down over his eyes, and a gun pointed in my direction.

" Alone Huh," He cocked his gun, And I did the same.

"Get away from him." I growled. We continued to glare each other down till the man repositioned his crossbow, and took aim at me.

" You got yourself one hell of a predicament, little lady." He mocked. I still continued to glare, showing that it's not going to be easy to get me to back off. That's when Blake charged his head Into the crossbow guy's stomach. This caused the boy to turn and fire his gun. It also gave me an opportunity to knock him to the ground.

" GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!" He yelled, struggling to push me off. Blake was in a skirmish too, but he seemed to be losing to the man, who WAS unmistakably bulkier. I wrestled the boy into a half Nelson, and held my gun to his head with my other hand. I quickly saw that the lady had a sword in her hand and was pointing it at Blake's head. He was conveniently being held down by the crossbowman, whom he was… bleeding all over. This shit i've got my gun pointed to SHOT him! While I was contemplating on whether or not to pull the trigger, the boy jerked his head backwards and slammed into my nose.

" gahhhh!" I yelped, as my hands flew off of the boy, and to my nose. In that moment the boy flipped the gun out of my hand, and now I was the one at gunpoint.

"Noooooooo!" Blake yelled, upon seeing me. Suddenly, a tall man with a curly beard and hair, busted through the doors.

"The Hell are you doing to these people!" He exclaimed. The crossbowman reluctantly let Blake go, and he ran over to me, holding his , and pushed away the boy. The two shared a painfully menacing glare before the boy looked at the two of us and silently walked over to the curly haired man. Blake looked at my gushing nose and asked,

" Are you okay? It looks like he nailed you pretty good." I nodded, and leaned my head forward, remembering that if I didn't, I would more than likely choke on my own blood.

" Hey, little girl," the bearded man asked," are you okay?" He asked noticing my nose. I glared at the man from under my Dad's hat, and growled,

" I'm not a little girl. I haven't been for eight years. Don't call me that. You shouldn't be worrying about me anyway. Jr. there shot my friend, so you better help him."

" It's not a big deal. It just nicked me." Blake whispered.

" Not a big deal? you're bleeding all over the place, i'm trying to help you." I hissed. That's when he also spoke up.

" Yeah, you better help her too! I'm not the only one you managed to hurt." Blake angrily demanded! He looked back at me, with the slightest hint of worry in his eyes. his head whipped back around when Rick said,

"I'm not exactly ready to trust either of you, but you do need that gun shot fixed up and…we did cause it or, rather Carl did," He eyed the boy who started the whole conflict, "so I suppose we could take you in for a couple of days and see if we want you to stay.

Blake turned to look at me, and when our eyes met, I saw something in his, but… it was indescribable, unlike the worry from a moment ago, this look was deeper.

"We'll go. But we need to stop where we've been camping out and get her… brother, and our belongings. You can take what you need from it if you choose to go with us to get them." The group turned to each other to discuss the offer given to them. While they talked I pulled Blake back around and exclaimed,

" What are you doing! The tower is fine, all we need is the medical help. Blake, that's your HOME, you don't need to give it up for Aj and I!" Why? Why is he doing this? I wondered. He doesn't need to, yet he isn't taking it back. Does he really care that much?

" No Clem, that tower won't hold out forever, and all that place is, is memories that I have re-lived for the past two years. I'm ready to move on. If we don't like the place they are at, we CAN always go back to the tower. We are going back for Aj, our weapons, and so they can raid the place. Trust me, these people will need more capable survivors, they'll help us." He looked at me some more and sadly sighed at the blood still pulsing from my nose. Then he gripped his shirt, twisted, then ripped part of it off and tenderly handed it to me.

" For your nose."He rubbed the back of his neck and then turned back around, to watch the group.

At that moment I had felt like he was the greatest person the world could ever offer. Sure, at first he comes off an ass, but… it seems like he is a very... good person, at heart. There is definitely something I find pleasant about him. Just then, the curly haired man walked over to Blake,( who instinctively put himself between us) and sighed,

" Alright… if you want to join, you need to honestly answer three questions. The first is: How many walkers have you killed?" Both Blake and I shrugged, knowing the answer was too many.

" Okay," He said, " How many people have you killed?" This was a tougher question.

"I-ive killed five people." I hesitantly replied, taking the cloth off of my nose. The curly haired man sighed.

"I've killed seven people." Blake shamefully stated.

"Why?" the man asked us. I went first.

" Two I put down because they were… bitten. Two others because they tried to hurt my previous groups and the last I could have helped, but I didn't." The man nodded and looked expectantly at Blake. It was visibly harder for Blake to talk about it, because of how recent it was.

" I-i had to put down my mom, and a friend because they were bitten. Two others, because they tried to do things to my brother and I, and… my brother… because he lost his sense of morality, and his sanity, after my dad was killed." My heart almost gave out at the last part. I was the reason he was alone. If I hadn't killed his father he wouldn't be alone. He wouldn't have had to kill his own brother. I felt so… horrible. I felt as if my intestines had been wrapped up and my heart was being squeezed. But I can't tell him yet.

The curly haired man stuck out his hand and finally introduced himself as Rick Grimes. Apparently his son, Carl was the one who bashed my nose in. Daryl was the crossbowman with a sense of humor, and Michonne was the samurai woman. We headed out of the house and into the valley in about fifteen minutes. Barely any words were exchanged the whole way. When we got to the tower doors, Blake brought out a key, and unlocked it.

" My brother is in there so don't tackle him too." I sarcastically remarked. We went in, and up the stairs to the door that was being held open by Aj.

" What is going on?" he innocently asked.

"get all of your things," I nicely told him, " we are going to a place where we will be safe for a long while." Aj pepped up and went to get his things, saying hello to every person that walked through the door. He seemed to like Michonne more than the others. I spotted Blake sitting in his brother's chair. I walked over to him and sat down, remembering last night's conversation.

" Hey," I said, " Thank you so much for doing all of this. You can still change your mind." He looked deeply into my eyes, making me shiver, but the good kind.

He smiled, " No, Clem. I'm not changing my mind. I need to leave this place, and you and your brother need a safer place." His Blue eyes seemed to sparkle, in the noon sun and he seemed happier than I had yet to see him. I leaned over and lightly kissed his cheek, startling him. Blake's eyes widened like an owl's, and I almost laughed at the dumbfoundedness on his face. I smiled at him and warmly said, " I'm serious. Thank you. I don't think many people would do what you are doing right now." I looked Behind us and saw Daryl smirking at us. He pointed at Blake and I, and made a little heart with his hands. I blushed, turned back to Blake who was also a deep red, and said,

" Okay, I think we should go. It looks like everyone is about done." I got up from the chair and saw Carl looking intently over at Blake and I. When he saw me looking, he turned his head to Rick, who was signaling his group to finish looting.

"Alright, you three just keep up, and we'll be back in no time." He reassured.I saw Aj babbling to Michonne, and I gave her a questioning nod, asking if he was okay with her. She caught on and smiled at me, nodding her head. Blake walked up next to me, his hands still clutching his wound. The only difference is that he wrapped a towel he had around his upper chest.

" I think he'll be okay, but keep an eye on him." He warned, noticing my worried rubbed the back of his neck and turned slightly pink, probably thinking about the stunt I pulled earlier. Rick signaled to get moving a moment later, and we began our trek to our new home.

In about an hour of walking, Rick told us we were about thirty minutes away from the prison. Prison? I thought.

" A prison?" Blake inquisited up, mimicking my thoughts. Rick said something to Carl, and he dropped back to us.

"Yea, we live in a prison. Right now anyway." He explains. Looking at Blake.

" Why?" I asked. He looked at me, very carefully.

" You'll see soon enough. So... How long have you two been... You know, together?" Blake and I immediately turned fifty shades of red, and Blake stammered," uhh, never, I mean, we-we aren't, you know, uh, together, we met two days ago, sooo." Carl blinked and kinda smiled a little bit.

"Geez, you two. Well, anyway, I think you guys will like the prison. To us, it's not what it actually is. By the way, I'm seventeen." He said. Blake looked at Carl and .

"So am I. Clem here is sixteen." He gestures over to me. I look at Carl and ask,

"So how many people do you have at the prison?" Carl smirked, and looked directly into my eyes.

"You'll see. We're kind of like a community, just, you know, in a prison. It's really safe there though. As long we keep walkers off the fence at least." He looked ahead, and smiled a little more.

" Go and look up ahead, we're really close." At that I jogged up beside Daryl and saw a rusty looking prison. My eyes widened. There were people there! Alot of them! I felt a smile light my face, and looked over at Aj, who had also just spotted the building. He looked over at me with the cutest, amazed look on his face. I saw Michonne smile widely at him, with a nostalgic glint in her eyes. I looked back over to the Prison and noticed a little contraption the group had set up. they looked like doors… but not doors.

" Hey, D." A voice said, rattling me out of my observing. It was Daryl. I looked slightly up at him.

"Yeah?" I asked. wondering what he wanted. He held up his hands in that dumbass heart shape again. I rolled my eyes and folded my arms over my chest, aggravated and amused at the same time.

" You are charming that boy," He chuckled, " You can be like my little side kick. Get the two of us together and go blow minds, and LITERALLY TOO!" he busted out laughing. I had visibly gotten redder, but couldn't stop myself from laughing at his words. Rick looked back at the two of us, smiled a little, and shook his head.

" But… seriously, how long you two even know each other?" He smirked.

" You are really taking that the wrong way, I only wanted him to know that I was grateful to him for being so kind. Only two days. I just feel like I really know him." Daryl just smiled and shook his head. We kept walking for a few more minutes, and then Carl walked up to me again.

" Hey, again. Look I just wanted to apologize for earlier. Im really sorry about your nose. How is it anyway?"

"It's fine. And thanks for saying sorry. I am too. I know what it's like to be held at point blank. I also know what it's like to be shot, but that has nothing to do with this." I replied. Daryl must have been listening because he piped up.

" Yeah, dude. It must have sucked getting overpowered by a girl. She's even YOUNGER than you!" Michonne heard this,looked at Carl and yelled,

" Ohhhhhhhhhh!"

" Sorry about that too." I said chuckling at how mad he looked.

Rick abruptly stopped, and turned around.

" Okay, you guys we're gonna have to book it the rest of the way. Don't want the walkers to get to us too fast." He then looked at Blake who was wincing just thinking about it.

" Do you think you can make it okay?" Rick asked him. Blake nodded and looked down, at his shoes. Rick nodded and took off towards the contraption. We all followed him, and as we ran, the thing opened up, pushing the surrounding walkers into the spikes set up around it. We all made it in safely, and when I saw who was shutting the gate, I almost passed out.


	4. Chapter 4

"Who are they?" He asked. I walked up next to Rick to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

"Glenn?" I questioned. He held my gaze for a moment, and then his eyes widened.

" C-Clementine?" He asked, surprised. I ran to him and have him a huge hug.

"Holy hell, I thought I'd never see you again!" He said, as I released him.

" You have gotten so much older! How old are you now?" He asked.

" I'm sixteen!" I excitedly replied. Glenn's mouth gaped open at that.

" Well, Glenn, looks like you have some catching up to do," Rick interrupted," but can you wait till she's settled in and knows where everything is?" Glenn nodded, his hands on his head.

We walked up the hill to more gates, but Rick easily pulled the door open, and held it open for us to go in. Rick led us though a little room with a guard post, and then into a cell block.

"Well, this is where we live. Carl, will you show Clem around? I want to talk to Blake here." Rick stated calmly. Carl nodded and gestured for me to follow. I looked at Michonne, who was still talking to Aj, and asked,

"Can you handle him?" Michonne nodded once more and I headed off with Carl to explore the prison. We headed into cell block B, which held all of the people they had rescued from from someone named ' the governor'. Then he took me to cell block D, where they keep their sick. I couldn't go in because the people had a strange disease. Then, there was cell block C, that's where all of the council members slept. Including Carl.

"Ahh, Unless you like a mess of comic books, I wouldn't go in there." He said, after I tried to enter. I ducked under his outstretched arm, and into his cell.

" I don't know why you didn't want me in here. There's... " I paused when I saw an old picture. It was Carl and Rick, with a pretty dark haired woman. As I looked on at it, Carl sat on his bed, and sighed sadly.

"That's my Mom. She died giving birth to my sister, and... Well... I had to make sure she was, you know, ' actually dead'."

I sorrowfully looked to him.

" At least you have a picture. You can always look at her smile and remember she's right there." I smiled, pointing to his heart. He looked down at where I was pointing and sadly smiled.

"Thanks. My Dad never really showed any sympathy for what I had to do, but... I think he knows, That I know he's sorry. Still it would be nice for a little acknowledgement." He said. I looked at the floor and sighed.

" you know, I also have a memory of my parents," I pointed to my D hat, " this was my Dad's." Carl smiled at that. I quietly got up and walked out of his cell, looking back only to tease,

"You know, you're not so bad, considering the bloody nose. I'll see you around."

I found Blake later, who ended up getting the cell with Carl. I was with Aj. I was glad I would be able to watch over him at night, at least the first night, so I can make sure these people are as trustworthy as they seem to be. That night after we had eaten our dinner with the group, I was laying on my bed listening to AJ breathe on the bunk above me. It was... Reassuring, to hear the breathing of someone I cared so much for.

A few minutes later I heard footsteps outside the cell. They would stop for a few minutes, and then continue, only to stop again. Soon a shadow lingered right In front of our cell, and stared in. I kept as still as I could but my eyes glinted in a flashlight, and I was seen staring right back. It was Rick.

"What are you doing still up?" He asked when he saw me. I silently stared at him a moment more before replying,

"Watching the door. Making sure you people are actually trustworthy." I sat up in my bunk, keeping my right hand close to my knife, just in case.

Rick shifted and ruffled his beard.

"Well, you don't have to. I promise this place is safe, and that we are here to protect you."

"I can protect myself, and my brother. And I can do that whether you're on my side or not. No matter what you promise me,you have to prove it first." I snapped. Rick just stared at me some more and shifted again.

"Oh, we will. But you have to prove yourself to us 'll go on a run with us tomorrow, and we'll see how you do." He countered. I smiled, and shook my head at his smugness.

"Believe me," I chuckled,"You'll be the one that's surprised."

* * *

The next morning, I was woken by the sound of the cell door being opened. I quickly sat up, my hand snapping to my knife, and saw Daryl take a step back in surprise.

" woah," He exclaimed "Didn't mean to wake you. Well, I did, but not as I came through the door." I rolled my eyes and relaxed a little. At least I knew Daryl was trustworthy.

"Are we about to leave?" I asked, while rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

" yup."

I rose up and steadily moved out from under the higher bunk. I yawned and stretched, finally cracking the crick in my back.

"Ouch." Daryl remarked, grimacing at the sound. I pulled on my grey leather jacket and strapped my holster to my pants, placing the gun carefully inside. I then grabbed the pick axe I had managed to find, and put it in a sheath over my back. After that, I grabbed my Dad's "D" cap and pulled it over my blackish hair. I then stepped up the ladder of the bunk beds, and towards Aj.

"Hey," I whispered," Aj, I'm about to head out with the group. You keep your knife on you no matter what, okay? I'll be back soon squirt." He had rolled over to acknowledge me, and groggily said,

"Bye."

With that, I left the cell with Daryl and walked down to the front gates. Waiting for us, was Rick, Carl, Blake, Michonne and a big black guy named Tyreese. He seemed nice.

"Good morning." Blake greeted in a sluggish tone. I guess after two years of being able to sleep in as long as he wanted, getting up at about five in the morning was hard.

"Its about time," Carl gestured towards Blake, " He got up sooner than you, and he's practically a walker himself." I noticed Rick,Daryl,Michonne,and Tyreese all grouped together and talking to eachother.

"What are they whispering about?" I asked. Carl looked over his shoulder and was going to respond, when Rick called him over.

"I'll be back in a minute." he grimaced.

I watched as he jogged over to join the rest of the group. As I pondered their conversation, Blake stretched and joined me in wondering what they were talking about. "Do you think they're talking about us?" he asked, mimicking my thoughts.

"Yes," I admitted, as much as I hated it, "I think they are trying to decide what they should do with us." Blake groggily nodded his agreement and rubbed his eyes. He did his little wake up routine, which consisted of a series of upper body twists and leg pulling. After his dance, I asked,

"How did your night go last night?" he shrugged,

"I'm bunked with Carl. He wouldn't stop trying to get me to talk about the past. It was like an interrogation. That's why I agreed with what you said." I nodded,and strained to hear some of the group's conversation.

I heard Rick muttering angrily to Carl. Daryl then started to talk, seemingly siding with Carl. Rick lowered his head and shook it, only to look right in Blake and I's direction and glare. He then looked at the other members of the group, and asked them something, to which they all nodded. Rick put up his hands as if in defeat, and the group casually walked back over to us.

As Carl started to approach Blake and I, we could clearly see Rick had pissed him off. He wore a new scowl that was slightly covered by his hair, and he had his arms folded across his chest. The strangest thing I saw though, was the smirk plastered to his face. Ironically enough, it went with his pissed stature.

"What was that about?" I asked, trying not to sound too curious. Carl straighted up and smiled more, but the smirk was still slightly there. Whatever he did, he was pretty damn proud of himself.

"You and Blake." He smirked even more at that.

"Why? What the hell did he want?" Blake snapped angrily,

" Why didn't he just say it to our damn faces?" I turned to Blake, rather surprised by his harshness.

" Whoa! Its okay, Blake! Calm down!" I soothed. He seemed to relax a little bit, but he was still pretty mad. He'd never seethed like that in the short time I've known him, so something must have happened when I was out of the room, or in their bunk last night for the tension to be so high between them. Maybe it had something to do with what Rick talked to him about last night. Well, whatever happened had clearly pissed Blake off. I placed my hand on Blake's shoulder and he looked down into my eyes, and in his, I didn't see anger, I saw a horrible sadness. I felt my eyes widen when his started to get red.

" Blake, what's…" he interrupted me by gently taking my hand off on his shoulder, and starting to walk back into the prison.

" I'll help tomorrow." he growled at Rick when he passed him. I stared at him awestruck as he walked away. Carl turned to me and shrugged while he asked, " What in the world was that about?" I shook my head and looked at the dirt under my shoes.

"I don't know. Did he seem mad after your dad got done talking to him yesterday?" Carl shrugged again.

"He didn't seem particularly happy. He just came in and went to sleep."

"Alright you two, it's time to get going. If he doesn't want to go he don't have to."

Rick interrupted. I turned to rick and followed the rest of the group out of the walker trap gate. We followed Rick through the forest ahead of us, not knowing where he was leading us. While the silence still hung the group, I decided now was as good as any tito admire the nature around me. It's weird how people are the only one's we've seen turn into monsters. It makes me wonder why I haven't seen squirrels ripping each other apart. Maybe they are immune. Maybe animals are a place to look for a cure. But what was the point of finding a cure, when nobody has anything to go back to? After a few minutes of walking, Rick stopped on a hill top and we could see the store.

"Alright," Rick said, "the store is just this way, when we go in, we go in pairs. I'll go with Michonne. Daryl you go with Tyreese. And Carl and Clem, you two watch eachothers backs like hawks." We headed over the hill and right to the store.

We all entered, and split up down aisles to see what was left, and to get what we needed. Carl and I headed down the medical aisle. The shelves around us were mostly bare. Everything had been picked clean from other survivors. We grabbed everything that was left over, and shoved them into bags that we had. As we continued looking, I saw a pharmaceutical office. It's windows were smashed open, and the medicines pillaged, but in the back I saw there were still some supplies.

" Hey, what about over there?" I whispered to Carl. He followed my gaze, and sighed,

"It looks a bit risky."

" I know, but as long as we use our brains we should be fine. Think of how medicine like that could help someone if they got sick." I could see I had managed to convince him, so I snuck to the door of the office, and slowly opened it. As we crept in, I heard low growls. I looked around the room and saw what used to be a young woman, stumbling around near the back corner.

"We should be fine as long as we're quiet." I whispered once more. We crept through the office, covering behind the shelves. We finally got the meds, and turned to head out, when I noticed that there were two walkers instead of one, and the biggest had decided to block the door. "Dammit," Carl cursed,"now we have to make some noise." Nodding, I turned, grabbed a glass jar off the shelf next to us and threw it in the opposite direction. Both walkers went in that direction. We almost made it out the door, but the female saw us and started shuffling over. This alerted the guy, and now we had two brain dead morons trying to kill us. I pulled my pickaxe from the holster I had created for it. I and I swung it. Unfortunately my swing was slightly lower than I had intended, and it caught the female walker in the neck. Blood gushed from the wound,and when I swung again it splashed, killing the walker and flinging blood everywhere. Carl fought the other walker, trying to aim for its head, but this walker was freakishly tall, so it's head was out of reach. Seconds later Carl tripped and the walker came down on top of him.

" CARL!" I shrieked. I raced to the walker and was about to bring the pick axe down when I realized I might hit Carl as well as the walker. I tossed my axe aside and hauled the walker off of Carl, and pushed it to the ground. I quickly took my knife out of its sheath and slammed it into the downed walker's head. My left leg cramped up and I panted on the floor holding my calf. Carl offered me his hand and he slowly pulled me up off the floor.

" Holy Shit! Thank you so much!" Carl exclaimed. I stumbled a little bit, still recovering from the sudden rush of adrenaline. I bent down to grab my axe, struggling to keep my balance.

"Are you okay?" Carl asked. I nodded, trying to steady my breathing.

"Here." He gingerly put my arm over his shoulder, and slipped his around my shoulder. He smiled at me, and we walked out of the pharmacy together. I felt good. For the first time in a long time, I had found people I knew I could trust. Carl was definitely one. I was glad we had come with group, mainly for AJ to be truly safe for once. I was happy for new people to talk to, and to care for. We might actually have a chance to LIVE.

When we met the rest of the group again, they all had full backpacks and were smiling at one another. Then they saw Carl and I. Their smiles sunk when they saw Carl helping me. Rick grimaced and walked over to us.

"Is she bit?" He asked.

"No, her leg cramped up. Because she just hauled ass saving my life." Carl told everyone what had happened, and Rick's attitude towards me seems to change to a newfound respect. Carl stayed with his arm around my shoulders the whole way back. I did as well. It felt nice to have someone I could lean on, and they not mind. I've made an incredible amount of friends in only 2 days. Pretty weird how good things seem to happen in bad times.


	5. Chapter 5

When we got back to the prison, I could walk normally and was joking with Carl.

Carl had to go help Rick sort supplies, so I walked down c block to go to my cell. While I was walking to my cell, I heard something I hadn't heard in a very long time. Music. It was coming from A couple cells down. I slowly walked to the cell

realizing that it was Carl and Blake's cell. This meant that if Carl was helping Rick, Blake was playing a guitar. I slowly peeked my head around the corner of the cell and saw Blake sitting on the lower bunk, strumming away on the guitar and humming the tune. It was a really nice slow tune, that sounded like a song I'd heard a long time ago, but I couldn't remember. The song picked up its pace as a beat was added when Blake thumped his thumb to the rim of the guitar. While playing, Blake had his eyes closed and seemed to be intensely focused on playing. Every once in a while his face would contort into one that showed tons of passion for his music. It was a peaceful thing to hear him playing, and soon I had slumped down outside his cell and closed my own eyes to focus on his music. He played and played and played, the sounds were so refreshing and beautiful to hear. After A while I drifted out of consciousness; slumping even more into the side of the cell.

I don't know how long I managed to sleep on the side of a wall, but when I woke up, Blake was staring down at me and a surprisingly humored and caring smirk had found its way to his face. He knelt down in front of my now pink face, and chuckled,

" So, I guess you liked my music."

I sheepishly nodded my head, hoping he wouldn't question my presence, but what else could I expect?

"If you don't mind me asking, I'd love to know why you were hibernating outside my cell." I stood up and backed up against the wall, finding the lack of space between us a bit awkward. But in all honesty, sort of nice.

" I-um," I stuttered. What the hell? Why can't I talk like a normal person right now? It's not that embarrassing is it? I thought as I nervously shivered.

" I heard you playing your guitar from down the hall, and wanted to see who it was." Blake smiled and stepped a bit closer and considering how close we already were, he practically had his nose touching mine. My heartbeat quickened.

"Well, I hope you enjoyed it." He smiled a genuine smile. He remained in this dazed state for only a few heart staggering seconds, and then his face hardened to a seemingly saddened and confused frown, and he stepped back.

" Maggie just yelled down here that dinner is ready. Just so you know." And with that, he took off down the hall with his hands on the back of his head, cursing under his breath at himself. The first thought that came to my head after that, was : What just happened? I'm pretty sure I knew that Blake had almost been the cause of a heart attack. Why was my stomach fluttering? What in the world was he thinking about a minute ago? Why did he get so close? There were so many questions in my head yet I wanted to collapse. The only problem with that is that I was hungry. Also, I wanted to talk to the people I hadn't met yet. So I walked down to the dining area, while my head nearly split with questions.

When I got up to the small room that the group used as their dining room, I had cleared my head a little bit. But, there was still a nagging voice in the back of my head questioning my previous situation. I walked into the room and looked around for Aj. I quickly spotted him sitting on a long table next to… Blake. Blake had his head in one hand, and was slowly eating his food with the other. Aj on the other hand, was slapping him with questions, not noticing his mood. I calmly walked over to the seat next to Aj's, pulled it out and sat to his right as Blake was on his left. I watched as the people started to sit down. Glenn came in with a pretty, short haired woman. She was wearing a light brown tank top that was dirty, but expected to be. Glenn came and sat down with the girl across from us. Glenn in front of me, and the girl in front of Aj. Aj immediately turned and faced the people across from him.

"Hi, I'm Aj! That's my sister, Clementine." He happily greeted. I felt my cheeks heat up. I had never directly called him my brother even though that's how I think of him,and he did it without having any second thoughts. Glenn then smiled a knowing smile at the both of us and said,

" Hi Aj, I'm Glenn and this is my wife Maggie." Maggie waved at Aj and I, then turned to Blake and asked,

" Who are you?" Blake looked up startled that someone he didn't know wanted to talk.

"My name is Blake. It's nice to meet you." He grabbed Maggie's hand and shook it, and did the same with Glenn. The couple looked up at each other and smiled at his unexpected kindness. Soon Daryl came in with a woman who was a little shorter than him and had short gray hair that curled over her ears and down the back of her neck. The woman came and sat down next to Glenn and greeted him with a friendly smile, while Daryl sat next to her. The woman turned her attention to us when Blake stood and reached his hand out to her, she smiled and gladly shook it. He sat back down and I reached out to shake her hand as well as Maggie's. Before I let go of her hand I said, " I'm Clementine and that is my brother Aj, and our friend Blake. It's nice to meet you." She smiled a friendlier smile than before and said,

"I'm Carol. It's a pleasure to meet you too. You know it's great to meet such polite people. Especially these days." That's when Daryl looked up with a mouthful of his ham and beans and added," but you can't be too polite, not when there's thieves and walkers and other assholes who would hurt you."

"Oh believe me I know." Blake muttered, but loud enough for Daryl and Carol to pick up.

Daryl abruptly stopped chewing his food, and Carol's smile dimmed. They looked over at Blake and Daryl asked," what'chu mean boy?" Blake looked up from his plate and grimaced at the fact he'd been heard. His face darkened even more when he realized they wanted an answer. He stood, turned his head left and pulled down the collar of his leather jacket down, to reveal a thick scar that went from the right corner of his jaw, down his neck and continued down underneath his clothes. Maggie and Glenn saw as well as Daryl and Carol, and all of their mouths were parted, and their eyes were wide. Aj had stopped mid sentence to see and his face showed surprise too. All I could do was stare with my mouth gaped open at the massive scar on his neck, and wonder what had happened. So I asked.

"It...was three years after the beginning, my Dad had left me and my brother, who was two years older, by our car to go hunting in the forest we had driven into. We had helped two men the day before, we had put our trust in those scumbags, but the moment they thought Dad was far enough, they attacked my brother and I... The biggest one was holding my brother back. I was trying to get away, but the skinny one grabbed me and he pushed me to the ground. He was holding a knife above my head and it slipped while I was trying to get out from under him. He stabbed me and I fell back down on my stomach. He tried to..."

By now more people had come in and we're listening to Blake. Carl had taken a seat next to me and Rick next to him. In fact the whole group had come in to eat, but now they were hearing a story none of them wanted to even imagine. Blake had sat back down in the process of telling his story, but he grew more and more tense as he realized everyone was listening.

"He tried...to...to," Blake's eyes flickered to listening ears as his relived memories and he nervously skipped ahead." Any way, my brother broke free of the big guy and punched him down but when the guy on me heard my brother break free, he turned around and started to beat him. That's when I grabbed my gun and... shot the men to pieces. My brother had to pry the gun from my hands... He told me I was safe now...that I would be okay... And then... I passed out from losing blood and when I woke up I was covered in bandages going from the right side of my chest all the way up and Dad was next to me in the backseat of our car." Blake quickly rose from his seat again and in a hoarse voice said,

" I'm sorry, I've lost my appetite." He walked away leaving everyone silent and shocked.

I watched him walk away and thought to myself, you idiot! No one wants to talk about things like that ! Why on earth would you ask him to explain what happened?

I quietly stood and put my hand on Aj's shoulder.

"Hey buddy, I'm gonna go talk to him, you can come with me if you want." Aj nodded and at the opportunity to go and got up. I asked that because I knew he'd go. If it was just me and Blake alone It might be too awkward. After we were far enough away from the shocked people, Aj spoke.

"I feel bad for him. I know we don't know him very well but I think he's still lonely." I lowered my gaze to the ground.

" I don't think he's had a very good week. He didn't have to come with us though. It makes me wonder why he did. Maybe he just misses looking after people." Talking about him made me think of earlier, and I felt my face heat up. Aj saw this and smiled a little.

"Why are you red? Hey, did you know Blake has a guitar? He taught me how to play a few strings!" I lovingly smiled down at him and wrapped an arm around the bubbly boy, pulling him closer. If anything happened I to my brother, my life would be as good as over. It was then that we got to Blake's cell. I peered in through the open door, and saw that Blake had taken his jacket off and was in the process of taking his shirt off. As soon as I saw that he was taking his shirt off, I charged into his cell cell and yelled,

"WOAH! Let's keep our shirts on PLEASE!"

"WHAT THE-" Blake . He immediately pulled his shirt back down, and turned to face me. When he turned around his face was as red as a tomato, and it got even worse when he saw Aj standing there dying of laughter.

"Hahahahaha, you- you're, just so red! You look worse th-than, Hahaha,Clemmy did!"

When he said that, I swear I felt my eyes bug out. I'm also certain that I turned purple.

That only made Aj laugh harder.

" OH MY GOD! How do you even TURN that color?"

"ALVIN!" I warned. He stopped laughing but still had a winning smile on his little face.

I turned back to Blake who was still in a shocked state.

" I-I'm really sorry! I didn't think y-you'd be, you know, stripping!" I stuttered joking a little.

"Well, I wouldn't have If I knew I was being stalked!" He retorted hiding a playful smile. So he does have a sense of humor!

"So... are you alright?" He lowered his gaze, and didn't say anything.

"Clemmy and me just want to be your friends. So you can talk to us." Aj encouraged. Some how Kenny must have been a good influence, because even though he's a kid, man, is he smart.

Blake ruffled Aj's curly, now hatless, hair, and said,

"Don't worry kid, I'm definitely you and Clem's friend."

He looked at me and smiled.

"Does that mean I can ask you a question, AND get a full answer?" Blake nervously rubbed the back of neck.

"I-I guess"

"What happened that made you leave this morning?" I timidly asked. Blake sadly looked at the ground and answered.

"I guess...I guess I'm worried about meeting so many new people, I'm afraid of being hurt byI can't bring myself to trust people so easily. You know now why I'm so untrusting of people. They are I haven't been near so many since before.

In fact, I don't even know why I decided to trust you two. But I don't regret it." He smiled at Aj who smiled back.

Not yet anyway.

I thought, frightened.

"So, we're all friends now? For sure?" Aj asked his innocence shining.

Blake nodded, and Aj, out of no where hugged him. Blake was hesitant for a moment, but slowly hugged the little boy back.

"What do you say we go and finish our dinner?" I suggested after the two new buddies let go of eachother. Aj ran back over to me and happily said,

"Yea! I'm starving!"

"That's because you talk more than you eat!" I teased.

Aj made a what can I say? face and sprinted back to the room the rest of the group was.

Blake and I walked back together, a silent awkwardness still hung in the air. Finally I got tired of it and asked,

"What the hell happened earlier? What were you doing?"

Blades face reddened and he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, I-I'm not completely sure what happened either, I guess I got caught in the moment. You uh.. you have really nice eyes," he blushed at that, "but I'm really sorry. Can we just talk like normal people again? Cause this not talking thing is horrible." He chuckled a bit. I reddened and smiled to myself.

" Yeah, I didn't like the silence either." I agree.

"Aj seems to be a peace keeper. He must have gotten it from his sister." He nudges me.

" He's not really my brother." I say. Blake looks at me slightly shocked.

" You had me fooled. I mean you did almost kill me for him." I shuddered.

" I would have. I was on a rampage. I hadn't ever done anything like that before," I hauntedly looked at him. " You are lucky he stopped me. I don't think I could have lived with myself if I had killed another innocent person." Oh crap! I thought realizing my wording. I glanced in his direction and he was curiously glancing in mine.

" I'll tell you that story a little later," I nervously stated. "we'll talk outside while we're on watch after we eat. I'm only telling you this for now." We had arrived back at the table and a low murmur was heard across it.

We sat back down where we had before and ate our meals in silence. The talking went back to a normal tone. As I was finishing and going to my cell to put up my utensils, Carl followed and stopped me at my cell.

" Is Blake okay? I figured he hadn't had it easy but… I didn't expect to hear that." He murmured.

" He's okay. But now you know why he doesn't trust anyone at first. Just tell Rick to cut him some slack and that he hasn't been around so many people since before." I said slightly irritated at the way Rick had acted towards him that morning. Carl just nodded.

"Well I have watch with Blake so I need to go." I told him.

"Alright, but..." he said glumly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"What?" I asked, concerned. I had never heard that tone come out of him before.

" I… It's nothing. I need to go find my dad anyway. Have fun." With that he went off to find his dad. As I walked out of the prison and to the watchtower,(talk about deja vu), I could only think of what an eventful day it had been.

**Hi readers, yes it's me TennisCat. At least I'm not dead right? Hehe... I'm terribly sorry for how long it took for me to upload this, I feel like crap for not doing it much sooner. Anyways, besides my incredible time management skills, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, a little bit of group bonding and friendship building. *cough* hope it lasts *cough* ANYWAYS, are you liking it? Do you have any ideas to make it better or comments on what you like about it? What do you ship? Let me know anything you might think of and I'll get the next part out as soon as I can. One more apology for you readers, especially the ones that stuck with me for this long. Alrightprepare your selves for the next chapter (you might need to) and I'll talk to you next time. love you guys, bye.**


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